>> steve: you keep sending pictures of your furry friends, so we're going to show you when it's not so furry, it's fifi the

iguana. look at that. a fan of "fox & friends." >> gretchen: oh, my gosh. >> steve: very nice. keep them coming. >> gretchen: dr. ian will stick around for the after the show show. around congress and enact new gun laws with executive order. vice president biden telling house democrats at least 19 of those actions are being prepped and will be implemented whether congress likes it are not. leads to the question, what are they. i'm bill hemmer. happy tuesday on america's news room. martha: i'm martha maccallum. these orders are more aggressive of current laws which a lot of people said is really the first place to start, or, they will try to get the centers for disease control to do some national research on firearms. bill: on the other side many argue, democrats and

republican lawmakers, you need to look at more than just guns. >> this is a very important constitutional right and we are very dedicated to protecting the second amendment from that standpoint. so what we want to focus on are ways to make sure that people with serious mental difficulties are kept away from firearms. bill: that's another avenue on here. now byron york, chief political correspondent, "washington examiner". good morning to you, byron. >> good morning, bill. bill: why from a governmental level, legislative level, why pursue the executive orders? >> a lot of this is just politics because the big fear of gun control advocates the horror that everybody felt after the shootings in connecticut would fade and all get bogged down in congress and nothing much would happen. that is exactly what will happen as a matter of fact. so the president wants to be seen as taking action. there are a few things he can do through executive action but they're not all that big. he can order the centers for

disease control to conduct a new study on gun violence. he can increase penalties for people that lie on their background checks. he can make it better, easier for states to actually report who has been adjudicated to be mentally ill so that can be in these databases. other than that there is not a huge amount he could do. bill: i did not hear you say assault weapons or gun show exceptions or the size of the magazine. seems like that is the low-hanging fruit and that is easy to reach? >> the white house decided those are definitely for matters for congress to attend to. they are going to be very controversy a.m. the assault weapons ban, a lot of people think that will not happen. the universal background checks and size of the magazines has a better chance in congress. bill: what he said from the beginning of this national debate that is barometer must be, what can we do to prevent another sandy hook? from what we know of the executive orders what would

address that? >> i don't think any of them would. sandy hook was a unusual situation it was the killer's mother who owned the weapons and entirely qualified to own the weapons. connecticut has tiff gun control laws and bought them and held them legally in connecticut and he ended up using them. it would be incredibly difficult situation to address. almost all of the measures being talked about executive or congressional would probably not have changed what happened in sandy hook. bill: byron york. >> thank you. bill: coverage out of washington. martha with more on this. martha: this morning lawmakers in new york are set to approve what are described as the toughest gun control laws in the country. this plan was worked out by governor andrew cuomo. it includes new rules for assault weapons and it requires mental health professionals to report dangerous patients. >> the mental health check system requires you put together a database to check against obviously. universal background checks on all gun purchases to

close the private sales loophole. right now a person going into a dealership, dealer, there is background check but there isn't on a private sale. that would close that loophole. martha: that is what he would do in the state of new york. that proposed law would expand the definition of assault weapon to match the toughest law in the nation right now which is california's. it limits ammunition magazines which we heard about to seven rounds, not sure how they arrived exactly at that number. it requires background checks when somebody buys ammunition. there is only background check when you buy a gun. they have to go through the secondary step when you buy ammunition. new york is one of at least 12 states with new gun laws on the agenda as a result of all of this. bill: also a freshman lawmaker vows to stop president obama from using any sort of executive action to limit second amendment rights. republican steve stockman out of texas would defund the white house and would file articles of

impeachment. he argues executive action on the issue is not only unconstitutional but a direct attack on americans. five past the hour. martha: so debt talks are also heating up now in washington as the national debt is speeding towards the country's spending limit once again, folks. you know what that means. talking about time to raise the debt ceiling, right? president obama warned he will not enter into another game of brinkmanship as he referred to it over the debt sealing with republicans. >> the issue here is whether or not america pays its bills. we are not a deadbeat nation. if congressional republicans refuse to pay america's bills on time, social security checks and veterans benefits will be delayed. investors around the world will ask if the united states of america is in fact a safe bet. the full faith and credit of the united states of america is not a bargaining chip.

martha: a lot of talk about the president's demeanor at that news conference yesterday. we'll get into that a little bit more coming up but for now does this really come down to an issue of raising the spending limit or defaulting on our credibility as the president has talked about. let's bring in stuart varney, host of "varney & company" on fox business network. so, stuart, you feel the way he is framing this is incorrect? >> yes. we're not going to default, period. we are not going to default. the default means that you do not service your debt. you don't pay the interest on your debt. well we have 2 1/2 trillion dollars coming into the treasury every year in tax revenue. we can use that tax revenue to pay the interest on our debt. therefore, we will not default. all this talk about being a deadbeat nation, that belies the fact that we have never, and will never default on our obligations. the obligation being to pay the interest on the debt. we're not a deadbeat nation

and we're not going to default, period. yes. period. martha: comes down to the big question whether or not you will cut spending in order to not default on your debt. and that brings us to a larger question or one of the larger questions, which is whether or not we will be downgraded if we don't become more responsible with our spending? >> interesting you should raise that issue, martha, because 45 minutes ago, fitch, the ratings agency said, if we have another delay in raising this debt ceilingsing, if we have this political standoff again just like we had in 2011, fitch says we may be downgraded. his name is david reilly. he is managing director at fitch and he said if it is just like 2011, america will be on review. that means it could be downgraded. they do not like this talk from the president about no negotiations, because that imply as real standoff. and they don't like the

words, deadbeat nation. after all, if you pay a bill with a credit card, which you have no intention of paying off that credit card, or reducing the balance on it, that makes you a deadbeat. so they're looking for political leadership, the financial side of america. they're not seeing it and they're threatening a downgrade. martha: we see what happened in other countries that have been downgraded and a lot of irresponsible spending with no real plan to get it under control. no doubt that goes into the equation as well as you point out, mr. varney. >> thank you. miss mccullum. martha: a massive aid bill for victims of superstorm sandy is moving toward key votes in the house but not without controversy. northeastern lawmakers are pushing an aid package topping $50 billion. fiscal hawks want spending cuts to offset any payments for the recovery efforts. we'll follow how those votes play out. bill: here's a stunner for you. a stunning course of change

but how much of a change. after years of bitter and forceful denial, cyclist lance armstrong is talking now, reportedly telling oprah winfrey he did use performance-enhancing drugs to win several tour de france. what exactly i said though is still a bit of a mystery because we have not seen the interview yet. casey stiegel live in dallas on this, the home state for lance armstrong, living in nearby austin. what did he say or how much can we report he said, casey. >> reporter: good morning to you. that is the question this morning, isn't it. the verbatim of the interview of course is not being released. that is oprah winfrey's way teasing us all to tune into the interview which is scheduled to air on thursday night but a source close to the information has said that he did in fact tell oprah that he confessed to using these performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career, a career that included seven

tour de france wins, titles that were later of course stripped from him amid the doping allegations. something he denied doing all of the time for years. armstrong apparently offering a simple apology to his fans and oprah was on the cbs "early show" this morning talking about her interview that happened yesterday in austin. listen to what oprah had to say. >> he did not come clean in the manner that i expected. it was surprising to me. i would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers. and in a 2 1/2 hour interview i asked most of those questions or at least as many of those questions as i could, but i feel that he answered the questions in a way that he was ready. >> reporter: a 2 1/2 hour interview. you can bet the ratings are

going to be high on this one. again, bill, this interview airs thursday night on the oprah winfrey network. bill: so before he went to that hotel in austin yesterday, he stopped by his charity, his canser charity, live strong. and made an apology for what? >> reporter: he absolutely did. he apologized for being wrapped up in this whole controversy. the livestrong, foundation, bill, as you know, raised millions and millions of dollars for cancer research around the world and he sat down as the board member from that organization that he started back in october when the u.s. anti-doping agency released that damning report. before he did the interview with oprah he talked with 100 members of his staff at the foundation, a 20-minute talk. he expressed his regret. he choked up at times and made no admissions. now of course the question remains, bill, what will happen legally to lance armstrong because as you know under oath he admitted that he did not use

these drugs. he denied it all along and, he also sued people for alleging that he was doing these drugs. so if he comes clean and the cat is out of the bag, now, what happens legally to lance armstrong? he is said to be worth about $100 million, bill. bill: casey, thank you. watching from dallas. you won't see it yet. thursday and friday, two different parts on "oprah"'s network we'll see it then. then we'll find out at the moment. martha: we'll discuss this a little later. disappointment across the board in this lance armstrong story. when you look back at his career, he was a seven-time tour de france winner. in 2002, "sports illustrated" named him sportsman of the year. this all comes with a very different taint to it, given what we're learning and as we say we're waiting to hear all of the specifics but we're getting the crux of it. he won the bronze medal in the 2000 olympics. since the scandal broke the

u.s. anti-doping agency erased four 14 years of armstrong's records, including the tour de france titles and banned him from cycling for life. department of justice is set to start a whistle-blower suit brought by teammate floyd landis. why he is would be doing this and whether or not he wants to get into a career of some sort. whether he wants to clear his conscience. i would imagine it is a bit of both. bill: casey said he is worth $100 million. that is widely reported. you begin to wonder when people begin to talk you think they can talk themselves out of it. justice department can pursue action as we know. martha: the president says no negotiations with republicans on raising the debt limit, none. what do republican haves to say about that? we'll talk to congressman steve king. bill: a new home for al qaeda and is growing. where the terror group is now in control. martha: the marine who spent months in a notorious mexican prison speaking out how he survived death

threats from drug cartels. >> did they threaten you with violence? >> yes. there was threats on my life when i initially got in there. >> how did you handle that? there are patients who will question, why does my mouth feel dryer than i remember it to be? there are more people taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so. we may see more cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. a dry mouth sufferer doesn't have to suffer. i would recommend biotene. the enzymes in biotene products help supplement enzymes that are naturally in saliva. biotene helps moisten those areas that have become dry. those that are suffering can certainly benefit from biotene.

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martha: that is a horrible story. just breathing is making people sick in china's capital. a haze of pollution enveloping beijing and other parts of northwestern china is blame for increase in respiratory disease. the chinese premier's is calling for new environmental rules. he is the first top communist leader to address the issues. in addition to making people sick. that is hurting visibility causing them to close highways and cancel flights. a 50 is sat fact tri score for air pollution. but get the reading in beijing reached 755. more than twice the level considered to be hazardous.

boy, that is a dangerous situation there. bill: good day to stay indoors, right? new front on the war on terror. al qaeda fights to establish a new home and they have been successful. military leaders in the african nation of mali, meeting to send troops into battle. al qaeda fighters trying to turn that country into the next afghanistan. france launching an assault there with the help of u.s. forces. now soldiers are beefing up security at french subways and train stations and other possible terror targets in its country after al qaeda warned that france, is quote, opened the gates of hell. with more now, former u.s. ambassador to the u.n., fox news contributor john bolton. sir, good morning to you. what us did this say about the state of the terror group? >> well, al qaeda in the u.s. islamic mag greg -- maghreb taken over in northern mali has taken strength since the fall of muammar qaddafi. this is the one of the consequences of overthrowing muammar qaddafi that we didn't pay continuing

attention to as we should have. i think it also highlights an important point worldwide. the war on terror is not over. usama bin laden may be dead but al qaeda has metastasized and is a threat now in many, many, regions around the world. so the idea that somehow we don't have to worry about international terrorism, i think this should put it to rest. bill: they're talking about adding american drones to give surveillance for the french troops on the ground. i want to show viewers on our screen here. egypt, we talked a lot about, mr. ambassador, you know that. you mentioned qaddafi in libya. you make the case a lot of arms that came out of libya when qaddafi was out of power, they went into mali, is that confirmed? >> not only the arms but some of the people he employed in his militias to keep himself in power. although this looks like a pretty out of the way place it is really, the issue not just the damage done to mali by having terrorists take

root there although that is true and it is no not really the threat to the countries around mali, although it is a threat to them too. the risk of the rest of the world, you have this doughnut hole in the middle of sahara and sub-saharan africa where al qaeda and other terrorists seek a safe haven, a sanctuary where they can planetary rift attacks around the world, replenish themselves, train people, and that is the real risk of al qaeda being there. bill: the point you're making there. apparently they have taken over an area in the northern part of the country about the size of afghanistan and said to be in complete control of this. whether or not they move on the capital and take that is something we will find out. you say let the french take care of this? should we not aid or assist? >> we should assist. we should keep the aspect of mali in the larger global war on terrorism which the president will not talk

about. the mali is former french colony. the french are experts protecting the regimes in their former french colonies. they have the historical background. we should let them take the lead but be coordinated because this threatens all of north africa. bill: thank you, ambassador. from washington. martha. martha: this is heart brake for people hit hard by your -- hurricane sandy. they begin demolishing hundreds of family homes that are damaged beyond repair. bill: say it ain't so, lance. can lance armstrong make a comeback now? ♪ . ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] let's take every drop of courage,

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martha: more than two months after hurricane sandy ravaged the northeast. new york is really just starting to demolish the homes that were damaged really beyond repair in cases. rick leventhal is live in hard-hit staten island, new york. he was there around new jersey and new york, all in the days during and after this storm. so what does it look like there now, rick, today? >> reporter: sadly, martha, very little has changed here. and what's incredible today, that some of these homes built nearly 100 years ago, have been demolished in less than 30 minutes. this excavator just finished doing a job on a home that stood here since sometime in the 1920s. it flatted it, very, very, quickly. we have video from less than an hour ago. the actual demolition is being done by private contractors, who are hired by the city. then the debris eventually

will be hauled away by the arm corps of engineers. it is all very careful process. they turn off the power and gas to the home and neighboring to insure there are no issues in the neighborhood and they also work very extensively with the homeowners to make sure they have gotten all their possessions out. they even in some cases get counseling and grief may follow when they watch the homes. some people lived in their whole lives reduced basically to nothing, martha. martha: you have to make a personal choice whether or not you want to see that happen or not be there, when that is happening. but it is is a necessary step, rick, in order to get to the next, which is to rebuild lives and rebuild the houses. are they planning to do that, most people that you talked to? >> a lot of people are having issues with their insurance companies. i spoke to the man who lives next door to this property. he shook his head and laughed when i asked him about insurance and said it was terrible. a lot of folks have flood insurance but can't get answers from their insurance company. we saw another house being demolished yesterday in this very same neighborhood.

we talked to a man that lived in the neighborhood whose own home had been torn down. he had grown up in the house. he lived there for over 50 years, along with five siblings and he is, at this point in limbo, riding an emotional roller coaster he says. >> the insurance companies are not coming through for us. it is three months. this isn't three weeks. we're not being, you know, like, impatient or anything like that. this is three months into it. right now we need the money. we need to be able to start rebuilding. >> reporter: still waiting for answers here, martha. at least 100 homes are expected to be demolished in staten island by end. month and 300 in new york city sometime this spring. martha: you have to make good on an insurance policy that's why the people paid for it. they knew they were in a difficult situation, and they have to get some kind of a resolution there. thanks for staying on this, rick, rick leventhal. >> reporter: sure. bill: in the days after this, we knew this would be of the

end result, that neighborhoods would be bulldozed like in new orleans. martha: it would take some time to work through. it has been three months. it is time for the people to get answers. bill: u.s. marine held prisoner in mexico after four months, even chained to his bed. now he is back home telling bill o'reilly about what happened. >> were you frustrated? >> i was frustrated with, with all the different authorities. i didn't feel that anything really worked out in my favor. new prilosec otc wildberry is the same frequent heartburn treatment as plosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer one pill each morning. 2hours. zero heartburn. satisfaion guaranteed or your money back.

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bill: we are hearing for the first time from the u.s. marine held more than four months in a notorious mexican jail. john hammar's case made international headlines when a picture of him chained to a bed was made public. he is talking to bill o'reilly how he ended up behind bars in the first place on a questionable weapons charge in mexico. >> we told them, we've got this hunting shotgun and we're trying to go through mexico legally. what do we have to do? they gave us some paperwork to fill out. said, you know, if you declare it with this paperwork you should be fine. we paid a fee. we crossed the border. and declared the weapon. and then that's where short while after that, that is where things started going wrong. >> all right. so you're in a winnebago. you cross into matemoros you go voluntarily to the

mexican side. you show the american paperwork. they immediately do what to you? >> it took them a while to talk to their superiors, to figure out what they were going to do, but once the certain superior that made the decision that i was going to go to jail came through, they started doing the paperwork. they didn't let us know that we were going to jail though. they made it sounds like we were just going to a place and pay a fee. so we, they took us downtown. we stayed there for four days. my friend got out. i stayed in. and then eventually i ended up in prison. bill: things only got worse from there. hammar's life was threatened he says and his family extorted. >> what happened when you walked into the prison? you're an american. what do the other inmates do? >> well, i came into the prison at around 3:00 in the

morning. so you know, initially there was some pressure put on me. they tried to extort money from the family but the american consulate was contacted and they moved me out of the general population and put me into a, like a, you know, a single pleas by myself. >> how would they try to extort money from you? >> they call your family. they throw threats at you and your family. and tell you, you know, we need your money. >> or? >> they didn't tell me for what? >> they didn't tell you, they threaten you with violence? >> yes. they, there was threats in my life when i initially got in there. >> how did you handle that? >> i think i did all right because i'm alive right now. >> did you fight?

>> there's not much of a fight. there is a little bit of, you know, they roughed me up a little bit but it was quickly resolved. bill: give his family a lot of credit. they were out there publicly keeping the story alive. they wanted him home for christmas and didn't happen but he is home now. martha: there was no way, initially the hearing was supposed to be in mid-january. bill o'reilly was on the story. we were working on it as well. a lot of people were involved. he says he does not have any i'll feelings towards the mexican government. initially he said he had equal governments, he wanted the united states government to do more to help him, and mexican government to do more to help him. the good news he is home this marine. bill: listen to him talk. he is measured, mature man. that is what got him out of there. back home now. well-done. martha: so back in washington, house republicans are now reacting

to some tough words from president obama at his last news conference of the first term which took place yesterday morning. it was long one. republicans have only two options in the battle over raising the nation's borrowing limit. here is what he said. >> they can act responsibly and pay america's bills, or they can act irresponsibly and put america through another economic crisis. but they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the american economy. the financial well-being of the american people is not leverage to be used. martha: hmmm. there you go. iowa republican congressman steve king joins me now. so those are your two options. you can either crash the american economy or you can raise the debt limit or refuse to raise the debt limit. what do you pick, congressman king? >> isn't that masterful political rhetoric coming from the president? if you listen to him talk, there is a little pause in

his selection of words there, you it is choreographed and carefully chosen but the american people will be able to see through this i believe. the first problem we need to deal with, martha, the misuse of the term default that emerged in the last debt ceiling crisis in august of 2011 when used on both sides of the aisle, when we reach the point the united states didn't have anymore borrowing authority that automatically meant default. it doesn't. that was a false definition then. it is a false definition now. we have enough money to operate essential components of this government that we can go on for a very long time. this isn't a crisis that hits a deadline that turns it into default. furthermore the economy of the united states, if we continue on this trillion dollar plus a year increase in our national debt does eventually hit a place of insolvency. that is what i fear. that is what most conservatives fear, martha. martha: but the president is basically saying to you, and the rest of the republicans in the house, that he is going to raise the debt limit. that the debt limit is going

up. there won't be any negotiations over spending cuts that might offset that increase. there is going to be no negotiation. so what will you do? >> first of all i don't think the president can stay out of the dialogue because he was in it yesterday. second is, he does not have the constitutional authority to raise the debt limit. and i understand that that the white house receded from that argument in the last several days. but, if the president should decide to defy the constitution, it does put the house in a situation where we have to defend it. we have all taken an oath to uphold the constitution and we respect the oath we gave unlike that of the president who seems to think he could cavalierly cast aside the language in the constitution and oath of office. couple things we can do, we can start shutting down appropriations. we can dig in, however we bring the pressure together the decision will be made by the will of the american people. that might be in the next election but as pressure builds, members of congress

will act to --. martha: i guess what i'm asking for in terms of a plan, are you going to put forth something that says, we, the house republicans believe that this program should be cut, this agency should be cut, these are the spending cuts we would outline in order to offset the increase in the debt ceiling? we believe that there needs to be cuts and these are what they would be? are you going to do that? >> martha, we'll get together this weekend and we'll crunch all that out. i don't want to presume there is consensus there i might adhere to. i want to do that with my colleagues but we need to lay down the broad bright line, for me, it is this. when does this budget balance? we must have cuts to go along with any debt increase. they must be substantial. there must be a line. martha: you need to sell that idea to the american people with specifics and with a plan and say we're the house gop. here's what we would do. here are the programs we

would cut in order to reach parity over the next five years. we may never get this but we want the american people to understand what we stand for. is that something we can expect? >> well, martha, i take your point we need to sell it with specifics but you also understand as soon as a specific is put out there, it is attacked by the spending piranhas on the other side. we have to first nail down the concept. i would add another concept to this. a balanced budget amendment sent out of the house and senate and sent to states for ratification. we have to get this under control. most conservatives believe we have to come to a point where we stand and fight. i hope this is the time. it gives us opportunity back to the president, what are your spending prioritis? will you pay the active duty military first with money you have? there is no definition of fault. will you pay social security and medicare or use it as a political tool to try to get house republicans to cave? that is what we're faced with. martha: the you're talking about negotiation. president is not interested

in that. >> he has no choice. martha: this is very interesting. i think in a way american people hope it does. they want to hear the debate and see the discussion out in front of them. representative king, always nice to have you with us. >> thank you, martha. appreciate it. bill: check of the markets real quick. off about 35 points in trading. investors reacting to reports about consumers increasing spending retailwise. that wasn't good enough for wall street. frankly not enough good numbers to turn the economy around. apple was hammered yesterday. it is down lower today. we'll watch that story. what's up, martha? martha: this year's flu outbreak has reached epidemic proportions. if you know anybody suffering it has and an ugly one. flu shots are running dangerously low in some areas. we'll tell you what to do about that. bill: lance armstrong talks to oprah but how much did he really say? ♪ .

bill: it is one of the biggest sports stories and cultural stories you will hear about this week. lance armstrong is apparently coming clean. apparently we say because we don't know yet. he talked to oprah and she says earlier today, she was surprised by his openness. >> lance actually said, will there be a point where you lighten up? what about the questions about my mom and how is my run today? so, yeah, i woos prepared with a strategy but because he was so forthcoming, i think i went in prepared to have to dig and pull and reference because i was, literally in my head on page 786 of the reason decision, if he says this i will go to that. if he says this answer i will go to seven deadly

since, page 114. i, i didn't have to do that because he was pretty forthcoming. bill: so we still don't know though. dan kaplan, sports business journal. >> i'm great, thank you. bill: just the facts what did he confess to we can say? >> we don't know what he confessed to. we weren't in the livestrong room he theoretically apologized. he seemed to have a nonapology, apology, wherewithal the bad pr and publicity to the cancer institute. bill: that is good point. all the headlines yesterday that armstrong confessed. if you listen to the 20-minute address to his charity, it was poll guy for -- apology for having brought attention to the organization that was not wanted. i didn't hear, i'm sorry. >> it was a classic nonapology, apology. but you don't say i am sorry

for what i did. i think it is pretty out there that he blood doped and there's --. bill: you believe that? >> there is so much evidence. the investigation, into the u.s. postal system team. there are so many witnesses to the actual doping. what i'm interested to see if oprah asks him, has he apologized to the people whose reputations and livelihoods he ruined over the last 12 or 13 years, who came out during this time and said he doped. who said they saw it. who said that they knew it was true and he threatened them. he threatened them according to their testimony with physical violence. he ruined greg lam monday's endorsement by trek bikes. bill: that is serious allegations. you believe he trashed the reputations of a lot of his colleagues? >> this is what they say. they have came out publicly. this is reported. i'm curious to see if oprah winfrey asks if he apologized to those people he called liars who he

allegedly threatened? bill: you wonder what the motivation to address this now? personal wealth was put at $100 million. the department of justice could bring serious charges against him. >> they could. bill: what does he face legally? >> he could face legally issues with regards to a drug conspiracy. it was a pretty sophisticated drug doping system that allegedly occurred on his team. obviously he, the lies, distortions. again the threats to, to individuals. whether he can resuscitate his image and profile and i clearly has done a lot of good not world. bill: he wants to keep the charity important and relevant and wants to keep it forfied and strong. only way you do that to get to the contributions to support it. the false claims act is something the u.s. government could take action for. he is in triathlons right now. some suggest he wants to

compete competitively in triathelons. i mentioned this to martha earlier, sometimes you believe you can take your way out of anything and you wonder if this is one of the situations whether he can? >> lance has been a very good talker for many years. he has been very believable. i have no doubt he feels like he can do this again. this is a man who won seven tour de frances. i realize they're tainted but seems like the whole sport is tainted. in many ways he won those just as fair and square because probably half the field was doping at the time. he is admirable athlete. i'm not sure he is an admirable person. bill: we'll find out on thursday when it is auld revealed. thank you, dan. >> thank you, bill. bill: martha, what is next? martha: a lot to be said about all that. coming up the refusal to negotiate causing one political analyst to say, that the president is acting like a quote, petulent child. what does she mean. why did it come from a democrat? critics on both side unhappy what they saw at the

white house yesterday. bill: a big chill in california. a ripple effect across the country. why it could cost you a lot more money on your next trip to the grocery store. ♪ .

bill: cold temperatures on the west coast now threatening to send some produce prices soaring. farmers in california's san joaquin valley, fighting to protect 1 1/2 billion dollars of citrus fruit still on branches. california provides a majority of the oranges and lemons we buy at the store. that cold is threatening $400 million in avocados which are not normally

harvested until march. farmers not used to the cold are scrambling to figure out how to save the crops. >> makes as though every it. >> is a gamble. stay up late looking at thermometer. >> for the whole state to be hit all on the same day is pretty rare. >> everybody's pockets are hit. >> as long as the temperature stays below freezing the more damage artichokes will succumb to. the inner tissue will turn black. we haven't gotten to that stage yet. bill: east coast is mild. west coast is not the same. the price of lettuce is rising as a result of the current freeze. martha: how about this? every year there are thousands of surgical errors in u.s. hospitals, ranging from surgical tools that are left inside of patients. can you imagine? to the wrong patient being operated on. sometimes they operate on the wrong arm or lung or all of these kinds of issues. now experts are saying that doctors could learn a thing or two from pilots in order to avoid making these

mistakes. checklists we're seeing in the future, right? jonathan serrie is live in atlanta with more on this how would they learn from the pilots, john than? >> reporter: if you go inside of a cockpit you see the pilots are going over checklists to make sure all of their equipment is working properly and that all of the pilots are on board with the same flight plan. well now doctors are finding that they can drastically reduce surgical errors by adopting a few simple yet highly effective practices. watch. nascar pit crews use them. pilots use them. and now doctors are starting to use checklists to reduce medical errors. >> the data shows decreased mortality. decreased complications for our patients and that is the most important thing. >> reporter: dr. john sweeney employs checklists before, during and after surgeries at emory university hospital making sure his team performs the correct procedure on the right patient and counting each item used in the surgery.

>> the role of the checklist is to help take care of simple things so the health care team can really focus on the areas that need their brilliance and need improvization and things that might be unexpected. >> reporter: emory health care's chief medical officer william bornstein says checklists empower junior hospital staff to speak up when they notice something out of the ordinary. this team approach is something former fighter pilot chaz campbell teaches corporate clients at his consulting firm, afterburner. >> it starts with admitting i can make a mistake and there are people around me if i empower them the right way they can help me avoid that mistake. >> reporter: so, martha, what essentially is a fighter pilot's bible is now winning converts in the medical community. martha: a very cool story. thank you, jonathan. sounds like good advice. bill: we're getting details from the white house on one of our top stories. the president's reported plan to use executive order on gun control. bret baier analyzes in

minutes. martha: new developments in the plight of an american pastor in iran. y.♪ ♪it's so important to make someone happy.♪ ♪make just one heart to heart you - you sing to♪ ♪one smile that cheers you ♪one face that lights when it nears you.♪ ♪and you will be happy too. are you flo? yes. is this the thing you gave my husband? well, yeah, yes. the "name your price" tool. you tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. careful, though -- that kind of power can go to your head. that explains a lot. yo, buddy! i got this. gimme one, gimme one, gimme one!

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martha: fox news alert out of washington, new fallout a day after tough words from the president on gun control and his threat to make executive actions whether congress likes foes changes or not. brand-new hour starts now of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning. wee-wee are just now getting word from the white house that the vice president has briefed the president. we'll hear about the recommendations as early as tomorrow. the two are supposed to have lunch today. the big outrage is that the president is going to make 19 executive orders to get around congress. >> i'm confident there are some steps we can take that don't require lidge lacing and that are within my report as president. and when you get a step that has the opportunity to reduce the possibility of gun violence, then i want to go ahead and take

it. martha: that is the big question right there at the end. with neither side backing down on this. what do we think will happen as a result of these 19 executive orders? bret baier joins me now, anchor of special report. good morning, good to see you. >> reporter: good morning, martha. martha: what does that phaoefrpblgts we'll finthat mean. >> reporter: we'll find out when the president comes out with the recommendations. we could hear as soon as tomorrow. the signal and tone and ten or of the remarks from the president tell us and the fact that the vice president met with house democrats alone at the white house yesterday signaled to us that the white house acknowledges that big gun control legislation getting through congress is going to be a difficult task. while the president could continue as he did yesterday to push for an assault weapons ban and perhaps a ban of high capacity am mission magazines

ammunition magazines that will be a tough hurdle perhaps legislatively. what they are saying is that executive actions, and there are 19 of them supposedly could move forward. what would these do, perhaps around the edges, the center for disease control and prevention could be asked to do a new study on mass shootings. you could stiffen existing laws on the books as far as background checks, and federally making sure that mental health patients are noted as far as how that factors into the background checks. existing laws making sure that they are basically enforced. and i think that that is the scope of at least what we're hearing so far, these executive actions. it's interesting that you heard from some of those house democrats in some interviews that have been printed this morning that the vice president was also telling those democrats that the campaign infrastructure from the obama campaign is still

intact and they should think of tapping into that to use it to pass legislation on gun control up in congress. martha: doesn't it feel, brett, like the campaign is still going on? when you look at the press conference yesterday, and the president's bid both on gun control and on the debt ceiling to sort of handle things unilaterally and do it through executive order you would think in a second term there might come some sort of ease with having won your last election in terms of wanting to accomplish things. that is not the tenor that we're seeing at all. >> reporter: you're exactly right. brit hume was on special report last night and that's the first thing he said is that if you just came into that news conference yesterday you would think that this was a news conference leading up to the election, not one that was after the election at the end of the first term, heading into inauguration. this is girding for a battle, not ready for a smooth negotiation heading into the debt ceiling.

i think you have a president who is ready to fight ideologically on many fronts for where he stand, and this is not a president that is ready to give, at least not yet, on a number of different issues. martha: all right, boy, lots to talk about. we'll hook forward to special report tonight. thanks for stopping by. see you later. >> reporter: okay, martha. bill: fox news alert now, take you to the floor of the u.s. house for what we believe is only the second time in history members of the house of representatives led by the republican majority kickoff the 113th congress this morning with a reading of the u.s. constitution. now, if you remember two years ago around this same time of the year in early january, it was january 6th back then, today being the 15th, this was done as well, and a strong statement by house republicans as to how they would like to begin the new term in congress. martha: a lot of talk obviously about the second amendment recently, even discussions on

behalf of one congressman that it is an impeachable offense to try to circumvent the second amountment in anyway. we've heard about these 19 executive orders that the white house is going to try to put through. let's listen to a little bit of this. >> promote the general welfare. and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our possibl posterity. to or dan or dane this constitution for the united states of america. martha: that was the preamble. now we get to the meat of the matter. >> hr-rl 1 roam section i all legislative powers here in granted shall be vest ned a

congress of the united state which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives. >> i now yield to the gentleman from michigan, mr. wahlberg. >> section ii. the house of representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature. bill: and on they shall continue taking turns there. martha: a little bit of civics class from the house of representatives. bill: we wanted to share that with you as it gets underway. u.s. constitution, only the second time on record its been read on the floor of the house, happening right now. 6 minutes past. martha: new word that secretary of state will hillary clinton is

set to testify on january 23rd on the deadly september 11th attack on the consulate in libya. secretary clinton will go before the house foreign affairs committee and answer questions about the raid that killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. she had been scheduled to testify last month, but she suffered a concussion when she fell during an illness, she was hospitalized with a blood clot in her head. she is doing well, we under, is back to work, and we also unde understand she is anxious and wants to do that before she steps down as secretary of state. bill: new information about the american pastor imprisoned in iran because of his christian faith. he's set to go to trial next week on charges of compromising national iranian security and we are learning that we'll go before one of iran's more notorious judges for handing out harsh sentences. david lee miller on this.

what do we know about the charges. >> reporter: he's accused of trying to undermine iran's national security because of his work promoting a movement to establish a network of churches in phaoepls homes. his support essay the criminal charges date back to 2000. that's significant. that's the same year he converted from islam to christianity. in fact he's been arrested multiple times over the past years, the allegations here are very serious, iranian law says conversion to christianity can carry a death sentence. >> he was arrested by iranian officials more than three months ago on charges related to his religious beliefs. we understand that a hearing will be held soon and we call on iranian officials to respect iran's own laws and provide him access to an tofrpblgts he i an attorney. >> reporter: he is married, he has two kids. his immediate family is not in iran. when and if he will ever see

them again remains uncertain. bill: what is known about the judge or judges, david lee. >> reporter: this judge has been called one of iran's hanging judges, following the 2009 elections. he handed out death sentences to several human rights activists. overall he's a shadowy figure, he never appears in public and there are no known photos. in april of 2011 the european union named this judge as an individual that is subject to sanctions because of human rights violations. as for the pastor he remains steadfast and says he is prepared to hang for his faith in jesus. his supporters are urging washington to do more to pressure iran to set him free. bill: our best as time goes on. david lee miller, than that you, live herthank you, live in new york with us today. martha: there was quite a bit of tension in the room with the president yesterday. >> i promise you michelle and i are very nice to him and we have a wonderful time, but it doesn't

prevent them from going onto the floor of the house and, you know, blasting me for being a big spending socialist. martha: and of course it was republicans that the president says he gets along fine with at picnics, and then they call him names on the floor of the congress. critics have called those comments pit ooh length, childless. bill: north carolina among numerous states pursuing major tax changes. we'll talk to the man leading the charge in the tar heel state. see if it works for your state. martha: from sci-fi to real life the robot that can think like a baby. ♪ singing] [ male announcer ] with over 50 delicious choices

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horrific accident in egypt. a train derailment killing 19 people, injuring more than a hundred. this is the aftermath of the scene there. authorities say the two railroad passenger cars derailed south of the capitol city. personal items still lay among th the debris there. we are hearing the death toll may rise. all this coming as the country appoints a new transportation minister to overcome a faulty rail system. martha: a testy news conference yesterday at the white house. the president saying that he will not enter into any negotiations when it comes to the debt ceiling. that whole episode yesterday prompted some criticism from kirstin powers last night. take a look. >> i thought his tone was very petulant and acting annoyed that people were asking him questions. and they were actually doing follow-up questions which they normally don't all do. and that was good. they were pressing him on the

things. he was being asked about his house vote that you just referred to and i think he didn't do a great job of explaining the situation, because i think that this back and forth that is going on about whether we're going to default or not isn't really the point. martha: so here is major garrett, as he presented the president as kirstin just referenced on his prior voting record on debt ceilings. take a look at this exchange. >> what chuck and i and many people are curious about is this new adamant deviewer on your part not to negotiate when that seems to conflict with modern presidents on the debt ceiling and your own history on the debt ceiling. >> getting votes for the debt ceiling are always difficult and bulge nets this town are always difficult. this is the united states of america, major. we can't manage our affairs in such a way that we pay our bills and we provide some certainty in terms of how we may our bills. if we want to have a conversation about how to redust our deficit let's have that.

we've been having that nor the last two years. we just had an entire campaign about it. by the way the american people agreed with me that we should reduce our deficits in a balanced way that takes into account the need for us to grow this economy. martha: bob beckel is former democratic campaign manager and cohost of the five. mary katherine ham is editor at large and fox news contributor. why do you think it was so testy yesterday? >> obama's best form is not necessarily a press conference which is why he does than do many of them. i which he was testy for one real reason. the republicans trying to take the full faith and crucify the united states currency and putting it at fist being. i'd invoke the 14th amendment, we'd problem below know that if we spent more time with the republicans wasting time on the floor of the house. i thought he ought to raise it and to hell with congress. martha: we talked to stewart

varney and kirsten said in that sound byte, this isn't about default, people don't think we aren't going to pay the debt on the debt service. the i shall eye is how you get there and whether you're going to cut any spending. >> i think he was petulant, i don't think he enjoys the press conferences because he often gets into unforced area. i appreciate people people putting back on him on his comments in 2006 and he got caught. you guys get ready for this "washington post" fact check her gave it an upside down p pinnichio. these debt negotiations have happened in the past in the entire modern era of the presidency. it's a pretty reasonable discussion to have. he's lamb basting people for not being able to com compromise and he says he's not going to

bargain or have a discussion about it. bulge jets are difficult. that's why he hasn't turned one on time in the last three years and why democrats in the senate haven't passed one in the last three years. we maybe should get back to that. martha: we know the budget isn't going to go in on time. that was announced yesterday. going back to one of his quotes here pwofpblt he says we should reduce our deficit in a balanced way i. think a lot of folks are waiting for his answer as to how. >> that is a crable position for people to sake, and he does have to come forward with some budget cut proposals and they've got to be done on entitlements, that's for sure. talking about going back to the 2006 quote he had where he voted against the debt ceiling. of it seems to me they should have been plea paired fo prepared for that question. he seemed to be taking aback by that being raised when it was raised before in the campaign. somebody should have said, mr. president you're going to get that question, let's have a better answer of that. he didn't have it.

martha: you say this isn't his favorite thing to do. i brought this up with bret baier a little while ago. it seems to me the elections are over for president obama. he will never have to run for office again. doe it seem to you that his demeanor -- it feels like somebody who is still running. you might look for sort of more statesman like, legacy-building behavior at this stage of an american president seat. >> yeah i think it feels that way and it doesn't do him a lot of good, and the weird needy stuff about people coming to dance with him or play cards with him is strange and unnecessary for a guy who just won. interest doesn't put on the best face. i think he would do better to sort of come forth and actually try to do something with his own debt commission that he appointed. try to do something with entitlements, buck his party on that. i i think that would create a legacy. as a liberal he's unwilling to admit that's part o and do something about it. >> the negotiations are a

two-way street e. was right he gets the republicans down to the white house. >> the republicans gave in this past negotiation which was not a balanced approach. >> it's about time they gave a little bit of something because they haven't given obama anything for four years. >> he got it. >> the reality of it is the republicans will have to come down and be serious and not just protect wealthy people and come up with some proposals and the president has got to come up with proposals, i haven't seen it on any side. martha: i agree with you and i asked steve king about that moments ago. you've got to come up with ideas, lay it out so the people can decide which side they like, what they agree with. theyer getting no meat in either of these. >> to get beat up i on the tphaort of the house by republicans in a motion vicious way. >> come on. >> you just did it. what are you talking about? you guys can never say anything nice about this guy, i don't know why. he's president of the united states, say one thing nice. martha: i'm getting very lonely

at the white house and i think you guys should come over and play to card. thank you box, thank you mary catherine. bill: tanteros got a radio show, shys unavailable. reroll in mary katherine ham, the hammer comes in, she and beck her hitting it off already in a swimmingly fashion there. martha: i know. we have a new duo in the works. bill: i think perhaps we just found our new duo. martha: we love mary catherine and we love bob. bill: we are hearing from the parents in newtown, connecticut, and what a story they have. what they are now doing and saying that they want all americans to understand. >> on friday december 14th i put two children on the bus and only one came home. i pray that no mother, father, grand parent or caregiver of children ever have to go through this pain.

bill: so many emotional words from the parents of the 21 killed in newtown, connecticut. most speaking for the first time since that tragic day. there were more than 21 killed but there were 20 students inside that elementary school killed that day. talking about fighting now the parents are to end gun violence and deal with mental health issues. the group calling themselves sandy hook promise. here they are. >> this is a promise to turn the conversation into actions. things must change. this is the time. this is a promise we make to our precious children. this is a promise to do everything in our power to be remembered not as the town filled with grief and victims, but as the place where real change began. bill: such a long way to go too there in newtown. one school district now in

neighboring pennsylvania implementing what they say is real change by taking matters into their own hands. carl cameron is live in butt hrerbgs pennsylvania with their story. what is happening there, carl, good morning. >> reporter: hi, bill, well the community took steps to sort of accelerate its plan to protect their kids. here in pennsylvania there are only 500 school districts and over a hundred of them have had before the sandy hook massacre or now implemented some sort of armed security in the schools, whether it's armed police and/or guards. here in butler they had passed a plan to implement armed guards in the schools. retired state troopers about to pass a very strict course with their firearms. because of the sandy hook massacre they accelerated it and it has been well received by the community. one family apparently complained but the vast majority have been very, very positive about it. we talked to the mayor yesterday. here is what the democratic mayor of butler had to say about the implementation. >> the first reaction is to keep the kids at school safe, it's a

sad reality that we need to think about that. but, you know, there is really no room to leave a door open where there could be a problem. >> reporter: and so as we say there is a tremendous amount of very strict requirements for these state troopers. there are 14 schools here in butler, all of them now have armed, former state troopers as part of the school community. and you can see as they wander around it looks like any other security guard. they treat it much like a teacher or staffer, waiving to the kids talking about the day-to-day life in school. there is no great emphasis on firms but they argue here it's way to do everything possible to protect their kid, and they ask, who won't. bill: what is the state of armed guards around school. >> it's a lot more prevalent than one might think. there are 10,000 school districts across the country and thousands already have armed guards or police in their schools at some point. there are urban areas where there are mini hubs close in

proximate eupl a taoefplin proximity. no less than california democratic liberal senator barbara boxer last week suggested it might be a good idea and proposed it as an idea to the administration as the kind of thing they should look at. we've seen a lot more of it and it's more prevalent than than a lot of people realize. bill: carl cameron in butler, pennsylvania on that story today. martha: democrats are making it clear that there are more tax hikes on the horizon as we seek to make up the revenue nor the debt ceiling. some states have decided that they know what is coming so they will take matters into their own hands. bill: we'll take you to one of those states next. new warnings of a massive solar storm and how that might affect the thing you hold in your hand right now, that might be your cellphone, your blackberry, or

our iphone, or much more. look out.

bill: hope for over hauling the federal tax system in washington may be slowly fading. there are lawmakers in several republican states taking matters into their own hand, including one in north carolina. where republicans are

considering doing away with individual and corporate income taxes, the plan would replace lost revenue with a new business license fee and a higher sales tax on goods and services such as accounting, spa services and food. with me now is the guys leading the charge in north carolina, eye he's a state senator. bob ru kr-rbchio. what do you think it will do for the effect condition of north carolina? north carolina's economy is based on a 1930 manufacturing base. unfortunately after we've studied this for the last six to eight months we've noticed serious problems, and that declining in me yan housing income. increased poverty and also a very high unemployment rate, none of which reflect a good economic environment. our goal is to have economic growth and create jobs. that's what we were elected to do. bill: we've seen in other states, florida for years, texas

as well. what you would do is you would tax things that are currently not being taxed by the state, such as certain legal fees, accounting fees, spa services, and food. ultimately what would you get out of it? >> well, you have to look at some serious points. consumption-based sales and use tax very broad based on both goods and service efs is s is a very good economic driver as compared to the negative effect of income taxes which is a detriment to economic growth and jobs. what we believe is to expand the sales tax basin to goods and services, that is something that would absolutely create business activity, and therefore income and gdp growth and with that we were going to get rid of completely the negative taxes, which would be income taxes, both personal and corporate, and what that does is it will create jobs. bill: okay, now we -- i know you believe it's got a pretty good

chance to pass. south carolina does not have this yet. are you trying to beat south carolina to the punch? stpheu think what we're trying to do more than anything, bill is trying to make north carolina a very competitive state. if we can implement this plan with the consumption-based tax and zeroing out the income taxes we will have the best economy in the southeast which will give us many years of prosperity and job growth. bill: thank you for your time. your unemployment rate has been over 9% for far too long. we'll see how it goes in north carolina. other efforts underway, north carolina i mentioned. kansas, oklahoma with me now charles payne from the fox business network. do you like his idea? >> i do like his idea. there are a few other things by the way that weren't mentioned i. think something that is really critical is the overall country has been in a bunker men taplt whic mentality. which is natural.

we need to get into a progrowth mentality. states that exist only to feed into the welfare society that removes the needle, that's why our gdp hasn't moved. these are gdp policies. businesses hire more people, invest in plants, it encourages work. right now we have a scenario where work is sort of discouraged and moving up in the workforce is discouraged. if you make less than $50,000 you almost would love to go beyond that 50,000 threshold hanna lot of people it almost pays not to work. these are also prowork -- gives you a proworkmen at the time. i get my kherbgs i get to keep my check. >> we mentioned north carolina, this idea is not in a capsule here, it keeps spreading and spreading and we keep finding more and more cases. a year from now you'll find many more states, not just florida and texas as so many people talked about, but many others. >> absolutely. i think texas is the state that everybody looks at. over the last ten years california loses a lot of

people, a big bunch of them go to texas, these are productive innovative people, businesses. you have an amazing sense of prosperity. that's what we all want. that's the transition the country needs to go through. if it's not going to happen at the national level certainly you have states saying we want to get out of this bunker mentality. bill: if you can't get it from washington you'll have to go to your own state capitol to try to get some of that back. >> absolutely. bill: check out the payne. varney & company. charles is out there throughout the entire day. you can check him out with stewart or anyone, right? martha: do you have an elevator around here? bill: our guy. martha: some troubling numbers to talk about this morning, and they have to do with suicides in the military last year. surging to the highest number ever recorded despite an intense effort by the pentagon to try to address this problem for our military. the experts fear that this number could rise again this year. it is a very important issue to

address and john roberts is on it today live in atlanta. these numbers are disturbing, john. >> reporter: they really are, martha. a real turn around from the thar the last few years. here are the latest numbers the tally from the pentagon, look at this. in 201-1301 active duty service members died by suicide. in 2012 that number jumped to 249, this despite the pentagon has made suicide a priority and that every branch in the military has an aggressive and comprehensive suicide prevention program. perhaps most troubling, though is the situation with the marines. they were leadingth way in suicide prevention. we did a report on their program, yet last year their numbers jumped by 50 -- 50%. there is still an awful lot of troops falling through the cracks despite all of this focus on suicide prevention. bonnie carol is the director of the tragedy assistance program for survivors. here is what she told me about it. >> there may be traumatic brain

injuries that are undiagnosed. post-traumatic stress causing anxiety. sleep deprivation is a huge problem, and anxiety can contribute to that. so many factors. and when that perfect storm comes together our service members are at risk. bill: with more troops soon to begin to rotate back from afghanistan as the conflict begins to wind down the experts are saying they expect the problem to get much worse. martha: john, obviously they are make attention to it, they are very aware of it. it appears that what they are doing is not helping. >> reporter: it's not. and basically according to the experts i talked to, they say the system is overwhelmed. you have more and more troops dealing with the affects of multiple deployments and there is a critical lack of mental health professionals to identify and treat service members at risk. paul rycoff is with an organization that says the system is pushing become against a flood of military personnel that are in need of care.

>> this is a big issue. the president has to get involved. the day of excuses and not nothing about the problem are over. if he has to launch a presidential commission then do it. let's put the full force of this country behind supporting our men and women in uniform that we're losing at a shocking rate. >> reporter: keep in mind too this is a two-way street. the military has identified and tried to dole with the problem but service members also have to realize that it's okay to come forward with mental health problems in the same way it would if they had a battle wound. a couple of very good resources that could help active duty and veterans on this. the iraq veterans of america and the tragedy assistance program for survivors. martha: good advice. we hope they and their families and anybody who needs help are listening and that they are taking advantage of those resources. john, thank you very much. >> reporter: you bet. bill: 20 minutes now before the hour. we'll find this out now from walmart. walmart is offering something that we have never heard before. the world's largest retailer making a pledge to hire every

veteran to wants a job. walmart announcing the man today at the annual retail industry convention here in new york. walmart projects it will hire more than a hundred thousand veterans over five years. the hiring pledge will begin on memorial day and covers veterans within 12 months of leaving activity duty. most of the jobs in walmart stores are at sam's clubs location. go get them. martha: hope others follow suit. great idea. in the middle of this heated debate that we've been going through for the past couple of months on gun control, a group has launched a controversial new iphone app to teach kids targeting skills. very controversial today. we'll talk about this when we come back. hi. i'm henry winkler.

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martha: this is getting a lot of attention this morning. the nra is launching a new iphone app right in the middle of this heated national gun control debate. you can see it on the right hand side of your screen. it simulates someone firing at a shooting range. i'm joined now buyer i can pratt the director of communications for the gun owners of america. eric, welcome back. we spoke to you yesterday, and wanted to have you back on today. thank you very much for coming. >> well thank you so much for having me. martha: the headline in one of the new york papers this morning says a month after the gun slaughter at sandy hook the nra lawn -fpbs the sickist game yet. four years old can now may to hughes an ak-47 to shoot targets that are shaped like coffins. how do you respond to that. you're obviously not with the nra but a supporter. >> what a kid would see with this is no different than what a kid would see if his mom or dad took him to the shooting range. i don't get it with political liberals who believe in teaching kids everything under the sun,

including cucumbers and condoms, but when it comes to teaching things that would actually make a difference they object. things like there is a 10th commandment and one of them says thousand shalt not kill. and there is the second amendment the right to dee keep and bear arms. when we grew up we took driver's safety and ed in school. martha: this game was confirmed for ages 4 and up. when i was 4 years old i was playing with crayons. i don't know given the age of the children -- >> i bet your brothers weren't. martha: well actually i'm sorry to say i don't have any brothers. >> oh, okay. martha: anyway, i wasn't doing anything like this. and when you look at the age of these children, and you put into the factors that adam lanza's mother took him to a gun range now he was a unique twisted individual, and nobody is trying to say that his experience is

going to be spread to awful these other people, but it's just a question of sensitivity and timing and is this something that we want to offer to kids on their iphone at this moment in our nation's history? >> i don't know how many 4-year-old have iphone. i will say it is important, injures as we took driver's ed, driver's education. they should be teaching gun safety and education in schools. even with an app like this to help people learn how to shoot straight, because when they grow up and become adults they are going to have to protect their homes in the same way that that georgia woman did last week, in the same way that 4,000 people a day protect their homes, their families. this is a very important right, the american people upwards of 70% or more support the right to keep and bear arms and i just don't see why there should be an objection from the political left to doing something that really has been engrained in our

culture for over 200 years. martha: eric we thank you. we wanted to hear your side of the story. it's getting a lot of attention today. thanks for coming on. we'll see you soon. bill: in the florida house right now they are reading the constitution, right now they are on the second amendment. this is only the second time we've had a reading of the constitution on the floor of the house. the first one was two years ago in january of 2011. so that rolls on, on capitol hill. we roll on too. an enormous solar flair threatening to do trillions of dollars of damage here on earth. what do you need to know? tell us. martha: how about this. he looks like a little boy, not that mart buy the face part. he smiles and frowns like a little boy, but he is no little boy. >> emergency a robot learns from watching the human how to do it. the robot becomes an expert and then the robot can then teach another.

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martha: take a look at this out of san diego, a new robot that can mimic the expressions of a one-year-old child. scientists say that deago go san, that is san diego backwards is not only learning how to express human emotions but is developing relationships with people. researchers believe it won't be long before he can start walking and they hope that robots like him can be used in therapy sessions with special needs children. bill: that would be cool. as far as having another friend, though, i think you can problem below keep it, right. we've got plenty of friends, especially one that looks like this. experts warn that a massive solar storm its set to erupt right here and the devastation could total as much as $2 trillion. corey powell, editor of discover magazine. let's get the first image up

that shows planet earth relative to the sun. planet earth is way down here in the left hand corner and the sun is massive. here is right here, right? how come folks like you are so worried about solar flares in 2013? >> well, so we know from watching the sun for hundreds of years the sun goes through an eleven-year cycle being relatively quiet, to active and vie hrefpblt 2013 is the peak of that eleven year vike he will. we know almost like clockwork every eleven years you go through a bad period, each eleven years as we have more technology, more satellites and depend more on our electrical infrastructure we are more vulnerable. >> if we get hit with a solar flare what does it do to our technology and civilization. >> this is million degree plasma coming out of the sun at 300 to 500 miles per second. it travels through space, it hits the earth and actually the

the biggest thing that it does, it's all magnetized. the earth is kind of a magnet, it wiggles everything and that makes electrical currents that go crazy every where. it can lead to blackouts, overload your satellites, it can fry radio transmissions and gps transmissions, that's happened on a small scale before. bill: you're talking about the trillion dollars in damage. 1859 apparently earth was hit by a doosey. is that even a possibility that we could be hit like that with no warning. >> we know that happens. if you look through glaciers they record different times in the past when these things happen. actually the evidence of it gets buried in the ice. we know this happens every 300, 500 years. the last one was 150 years ago. it could happen a hundred years from now, it could also happen tomorrow, and the -- these flares, believe it or not that one is actually not so bad.

that is one that actually didn't cause a whole lot of trouble. the one that happened in 1859 was maybe like a hundred times that. bill: this is the flare that comes off the sun right there. >> this is 30 times the size of the earth. this is a small one. the one from 1859. there was very little technology back then, it was so intense that telegraphs around the world were sparking and setting off fires. bill: really? >> imagine you do that with your gps satellites and cell no one's and all the thins we have do you could have a global black out. bill: we have that to look forward to. does this keep you up at night, yes or no? martha: you know -- bill: that's a no. martha: you know what keeps me up at night? what keeps me up at night is that -- is that i know that some time in the next -- in my lifetime, and probably within -- within the next ten or 20 years there is going to be a countrywide black out. and, you know, we are going to

survive it but imagine hospitals blacked out, transportation shut down, all your computers, all your smart phones shut down. yeah, actually that does really worry me. bill: it would be a lead story. thank you, corey. martha: now i'm really worried too. of course it keeps corey up at night, he's corey powell. these are the things he cares b. this is coming up this morning, when she was forced to choose between her job and the right to wear her cross, this flight attendant decided to sue. but did the judge agree with her? that's up next.